October is NATIONAL ADOPT-A-DOG Month!

The month of October is recognized by both the American Humane Society and by the ASPCA as National Adopt-a-Dog month. In support, we wanted to list 5 benefits of adopting a pet, especially one from your local shelter, rescue, or humane society.

1. Adopt a Pet, Save a Life

We wanted to start this list off with a convicting bang. Every year, estimates show that close to 3 million animals, or roughly 1 every 10 seconds, are euthanized at U.S. shelters and Humane Societies. By adopting from a shelter instead of purchasing from a breeder or puppy mill, you save the life of an animal without much hope.

2. Save Money

Did you know that roughly 25% of dogs in shelters are purebred? That means that for a family pet that you might have paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for, you can pick up for a nominal adoption fee. A fee, we might add, that also includes the cost of having the animal spayed/neutered and vaccinated.

3. Finding Established Personalities in the Pet

Everybody loves a puppy, those cute, cuddly, flop-eared furr-balls with disproportionately over-size heads and energy that makes a certain pink percussion-playing bunny tired. But what personality traits will that puppy grow into? Are they going to be sweet as an adult? Will the play well with children? Will they chew everything in the house or dig up the yard until it looks like an entire prairie dog community has taken up residence? These worries are quelled soon after a few interactions with a prospective new adult dog from a shelter. You can find out very quickly if the animal will be friendly with your kids and ask the shelter volunteers or the foster family about the animal’s tendencies to turn your new pair of loafers into mince meat.

4. Many are Already Obedience Trained

Unfortunately for families and pets, sometimes things just don’t work out or take an unexpected turn and changes are made resulting in an animal having to go to a shelter. These changes result in millions of good family pets winding up in shelters every year. The benefit to you is that you can reap the benefit of adopting an already house-broken and/or obedience trained animal and save yourself the headache of training and save your carpet some stains.

5. It’s Good for You!

Longtime pet owners will definitely vouch for what various studies have shown in that owning a pet is actually good for you! Multiple studies show benefits of pet ownership on lowering blood pressure, preventing or helping recover from heart attacks, and the links to emotional health are tremendous. Pets have been proven to help with depression, phobias and anxieties as well as dementia. Pets have also been shown to have a great impact on the healing of children and helping children with autism advance in experiencing emotions and social development.